DIY Stands Template and Calculator

Stand

Stand

MY 150 gallon bowfront stand is made totally of 3/4 inch plywood with no 2 by 4 or anything else as support. No cross beam in the center either.

A cabinet maker made it custom so I cannot claim any credit for the design

Been standing for years with 2000lbs on it!!

I need to change the color it is covered with a light pine veneer ANY suggestions on how to darken it please let me Know

Started a thread in the do it yourself forum


THANKS
 
SPotter said:
so i just got done building a stand for my frag tank that will be 48x24x16 and 80g total volume. I followed the original plans in this thread and used 2x4's for the entire build. After skimming thru some of the split thread I came across a post that suggested 2x6's should be used for the top box with tanks that are 48x24. Should I rebuild the top box or leave it as it is?
Click to expand...

Since your tank is only 16" tall, it would not have the weight the average tank with this footprint would have. The top box should be fine. If your tank is acrylic, topping off the stand with a sheet of 3/4" plywood will support the tank bottom, and add a center rail left to right if there is not one already. You don't need that plywood or center rail with a glass tank. My 120 gallon with this footprint is on 2 by 4's, and so far (20 plus years) it's been OK.
 
TheFishMan65 said:
Glass (framed)or acrylic? 2x4s are usually good for a 48 inch tank. Any center legs?
Click to expand...

Rhodophyta said:
Since your tank is only 16" tall, it would not have the weight the average tank with this footprint would have. The top box should be fine. If your tank is acrylic, topping off the stand with a sheet of 3/4" plywood will support the tank bottom, and add a center rail left to right if there is not one already. You don't need that plywood or center rail with a glass tank. My 120 gallon with this footprint is on 2 by 4's, and so far (20 plus years) it's been OK.
Click to expand...

I should add that I am not skinning the stand. Its going to be in my basement so there will be no finishing to it. I have 2 cross beams on the top box and two on the bottom box both 16" apart. I was thinking about putting plywood on the top just to make it a little more solid. I know all of the weight is supposed to be on the perimeter of the stand so I could also add additional supports on the perimeter if needed. A friend of mine told me it wasn't sturdy enough and will fall over. Part of me thinks its because he didn't follow these plans and he has had nothing but problems with his stand.
 
SPotter said:
I should add that I am not skinning the stand. Its going to be in my basement so there will be no finishing to it. I have 2 cross beams on the top box and two on the bottom box both 16" apart. I was thinking about putting plywood on the top just to make it a little more solid. I know all of the weight is supposed to be on the perimeter of the stand so I could also add additional supports on the perimeter if needed. A friend of mine told me it wasn't sturdy enough and will fall over. Part of me thinks its because he didn't follow these plans and he has had nothing but problems with his stand.
Click to expand...
My 120 gallon tank is on a stand that isn't skinned. In fact there is a second tank under it 48 x 24 x 12.
 
bishop40k said:
Would 2x3's work for the vertical pieces (purples) for a 75 gallon stand? Would like enough room to slide a 55g into the bottom from the side, so need at least the 13" width.

Also rocket, I think this is your original:

Stand-1.jpg

found it at: http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/equipment/73534-diy-90gal-stand.html
Click to expand...

^
Is this the origional plan to follow off of. The origional post pic is deleted. Was wondering what to do as Im trying to build a stand for my drilled TruVu 55g
 
Donw said:
Poplar is not hardwood for the purposes of this discussion which is furniture and home furnishings. .... Im assume you are confusing my 950 starting point as tree height, its not. It the Janka rating. ....

Don
Click to expand...
This thread is about structuring aquarium stands, not about furniture and home furnishings, although useful information about the superficial treatment of the stand exterior is an aside I always value.

You know I am not confusing your Janka remark with tree height. You are not dumb. You are being snide and pernicious while playing dumb. You are much better than that.

Most people building these stands are using primarily SPF (spruce, pine, fir) and they don't have all the tools or skills for working with oak or maple. The template calculator here appears to be based on using construction grade SPF. I don't remember either you or me introducing the topic of poplar, but for those whose only other practical choice is SPF, poplar does have the visual advantage of a prettier grain that stains and finishes nicer than SPF, and the virtual lack of defects and knots so common in SPF. I do have some poplar on the face of five of my own aquarium stands, and after six years, it looks good still. My aquarium stands don't suffer a whole lot of the wear and tear that oak or hard maple would hold up so well to. Poplar has many more uses than the two you limit it to, and there is no point to depriving aquarium stand makers of another option. It has a more moderate price than oak or walnut, which are certainly more beautiful woods to finish.
 
Rhodophyta said:
This thread is about structuring aquarium stands, not about furniture and home furnishings, although useful information about the superficial treatment of the stand exterior is an aside I always value.

Most people building these stands are using primarily SPF (spruce, pine, fir) and they don't have all the tools or skills for working with oak or maple. The template calculator here appears to be based on using construction grade SPF. I don't remember either you or me introducing the topic of poplar, but for those whose only other practical choice is SPF, poplar does have the visual advantage of a prettier grain that stains and finishes nicer than SPF, and the virtual lack of defects and knots so common in SPF. I do have some poplar on the face of five of my own aquarium stands, and after six years, it looks good still. My aquarium stands don't suffer a whole lot of the wear and tear that oak or hard maple would hold up so well to. Poplar has many more uses than the two you limit it to, and there is no point to depriving aquarium stand makers of another option. It has a more moderate price than oak or walnut, which are certainly more beautiful woods to finish.
Click to expand...

Hardwood vs Softwood is based on the internal structure of the wood vs its actual strength/hardness. Poplar is 22% stronger than pine when both are green. Given the lack of quality in the 2X material typically available, I use a Modulus of Elasticity of 1.0*10^6 for my calculations. Yellow poplar has a MoE of ~1.5*10^6 when dry so it is in affect 50% more ridged then pine. Given that most poplar found at big box stores is 1X material, it is 1/2 the thickness so only 75% as strong as the pine 2X of the same width.

What does all this mean? It means that to make a poplar frame based on my template for a 90g tank, the upper frame should be 1X6 instead of a 2X4. However, this same frame can be finished as is where as the 2X4 frame would look best with an exterior covering.

Remember folks, this is just a template. When I built my own stand, I didn't use this design directly, I modified it to fit my needs. There are a number of ways to get the same result, it all depends on the tools available and the skill set each person has.

Please don't take my word as gospel, I am as likely to make mistakes as the next person. Do your own research, make up your own mind, and go from there.

RocketEngineer
 
Rhodophyta said:
This thread is about structuring aquarium stands, not about furniture and home furnishings, although useful information about the superficial treatment of the stand exterior is an aside I always value.

You know I am not confusing your Janka remark with tree height. You are not dumb. You are being snide and pernicious while playing dumb. You are much better than that.

Most people building these stands are using primarily SPF (spruce, pine, fir) and they don't have all the tools or skills for working with oak or maple. The template calculator here appears to be based on using construction grade SPF. I don't remember either you or me introducing the topic of poplar, but for those whose only other practical choice is SPF, poplar does have the visual advantage of a prettier grain that stains and finishes nicer than SPF, and the virtual lack of defects and knots so common in SPF. I do have some poplar on the face of five of my own aquarium stands, and after six years, it looks good still. My aquarium stands don't suffer a whole lot of the wear and tear that oak or hard maple would hold up so well to. Poplar has many more uses than the two you limit it to, and there is no point to depriving aquarium stand makers of another option. It has a more moderate price than oak or walnut, which are certainly more beautiful woods to finish.
Click to expand...

My apologies. My comment to JnJsad was in regards to him wanting "furniture grade". Honest I really dont know why you referenced the height of a tree, not playing stupid by any means. As a professional furniture maker I will say that poplar is not the furniture grade material that Jnjsad was asking about. Personally it doesnt matter to me what a guy/gal uses as long as they like the end result. If your happy with your poplar then so be it. Honestly its really more about the DIY and seeing people get off their butts and giving it a shot instead of paying people like me to do it for them. Im more a fan of the DIY than anything else and dont really care if its cardboard or walnut as long as folks are enjoying the DIY and like the end result.

Don
 
I have a 29 gallon Biocube that I need to build a stand for. The space I would like to put it is 24"Dx36"W. This is a corner between 2 doorways. I would like to fill this space as much as possible, yet keep as much open in the bottom as possible for a future upgrade. Couple of questions:

1. Should I build the skeleton to fit the cube now, then expand it to cover the rest of the area?
2. Would it be possible to build the whole thing out of 3/4 ply, more like a traditional cabinet?

I have all the tools, and have done some woodworking in the past, but never anything that's going to be a nice piece in the living room.
 
Glass framed tank?

If so as long as you support any two parallel sides you should be good. I posted an email a while back with specifics.

yes 3/4 plywood would work for this, but it needs to be under the edge of the 2 parallel sides.
 
cdrewferd said:
I have a 29 gallon Biocube that I need to build a stand for. The space I would like to put it is 24"Dx36"W. This is a corner between 2 doorways. I would like to fill this space as much as possible, yet keep as much open in the bottom as possible for a future upgrade. Couple of questions:

1. Should I build the skeleton to fit the cube now, then expand it to cover the rest of the area?
2. Would it be possible to build the whole thing out of 3/4 ply, more like a traditional cabinet?

I have all the tools, and have done some woodworking in the past, but never anything that's going to be a nice piece in the living room.
Click to expand...

All plywood is fine even 3/4" sides and 1/2" back would be just fine.

Don
 
RocketEngineer said:
Hardwood vs Softwood is based on the internal structure of the wood vs its actual strength/hardness. Poplar is 22% stronger than pine when both are green. Given the lack of quality in the 2X material typically available, I use a Modulus of Elasticity of 1.0*10^6 for my calculations. Yellow poplar has a MoE of ~1.5*10^6 when dry so it is in affect 50% more ridged then pine. Given that most poplar found at big box stores is 1X material, it is 1/2 the thickness so only 75% as strong as the pine 2X of the same width.

What does all this mean? It means that to make a poplar frame based on my template for a 90g tank, the upper frame should be 1X6 instead of a 2X4. However, this same frame can be finished as is where as the 2X4 frame would look best with an exterior covering.

Remember folks, this is just a template. When I built my own stand, I didn't use this design directly, I modified it to fit my needs. There are a number of ways to get the same result, it all depends on the tools available and the skill set each person has.

Please don't take my word as gospel, I am as likely to make mistakes as the next person. Do your own research, make up your own mind, and go from there.

RocketEngineer
Click to expand...

Right on again, Rocket.

As far as I know, the poplar was suggested for the shell covering the stand, not the structure. However it is more prone to fungus than other woods, so around water it should be well painted or sealed. If used inside the stand as structure, it ought to be very well painted.

It might be you could combine it as structure and shell, and save time and conserve material costs. I've only used it cosmetically, except for that picnic table that was made from four yellow poplar 12 by 16's and one 12 by 24. It was so heavy that I considered setting it up in the front yard and videotaping anyone who tried to steal it.
 
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